Overjoyed
by magicaldramione
Summary: Hermione Granger returns to England to a missing best friend, his frantic wife, and their new best friend, who just happens to be Draco Malfoy. She embarks on a journey of self-discovery while simultaneously looking for the boy-who-lived and trying to work out the reason she had left in the first place.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** The following story is based on situations and characters from the Harry Potter books which are created and owned by J. K. Rowling, and various other publishers, including, but not limited to Warner Bros., Inc., Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, and Raincoat Books. No use other than entertainment is intended and no financial gain is being made. No trademark or copyright infringement is intended.

Warning: this is my first dramione fic and I apologize in advance for my idiotic style of writing. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

Hermione Granger couldn't believe it. There she was back in England after years away. She knew things would be different. She just hadn't expected everything to be this different.

Harry and Ginny had married a year and three months after the war. A beautiful wedding at The Burrow. Hermione had been in attendance. That had been the last time she had been in England. She had come specifically for the wedding and once it was over, she had not even thought of staying. It was too damn painful.

Besides, she had built a life in Australia when searching for her parents. She had friends there. Once she found her parents, she decided that there was no reason to go back, but a large list of reasons to stay. Ronald had been one of them. They had been together since their kiss in the Chamber of Secrets until a loose Deatheater killed him three weeks later. She was devastated and desperately needed her parents, which made Hermione, go to Australia in the first place.

Harry and Ginny sometimes visited her home in Perth. Ginny wouldn't go as often after she became pregnant with James, though she sometimes found the time. However, the visits had stopped a year ago. They continued to write to her, but they spoke of nothing in particular.

Though, a week earlier, Hermione received a letter from Arthur Weasley requesting her presence at a little cottage in England, which Hermione presumed to be Harry and Ginny's home. There was no further explanation. The young witch had been frightened; she had not received any owls from the young couple as of late and was afraid of what she might find in their home. Were her friends okay?

Hermione had packed her things as soon as she got the letter, asked her boss at the Australian Ministry of Magic for a few days off, and told her parents and friends about her trip. Richard and Jean Granger were happy their daughter was finally going to go back to England. They had gone back quite a few times, but always came back to Perth to be near their daughter.

As soon as Hermione arrived at the English cottage, she could tell something was wrong. She had heard yelling coming from the house. The young witch dropped her bag, grabbed her wand, and quickly approached the house trying to make as little noise as possible.

"HE IS GONE, MADELINE! THEY CAN'T FIND HIM! AND, HIS BLODDY BEST FRIEND IS LYING IN ST. MUNGO'S IN A FUCKING COMA! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?" Hermione heard when she approached the cottage. The voice was clearly of a woman crying.

_Ginny._

Hermione could tell her friend was distraught. Something must have happened with Harry. She could feel her whole body tense up. Harry was an auror. He put himself in danger all the time. She felt her eyes well up. This can't be happening.

"It will be alright, Gin." Hermione heard a voice she didn't recognize say, "He'll be back. They'll find him –"

There was nothing else said as the young brunette outside stepped on a pile of dried autumn leaves, making a loud noise. Hermione heard a door open and all of a sudden she was face to face with her redheaded friend, wand in hand. Ginny looked beyond surprised and relieved. Her faced showed all the crying she must have done in the past few days. Yet, the ginger broke into a smile upon seeing her friend.

"'Mione…" whispered Ginny before throwing herself into Hermione's arm and crying.

Hermione didn't know what to do except hold her friend and cry. She may not know what was going on, but she had an idea.

A tall dirty blonde young woman appeared in the doorway with a confused look on her face. She, too, appeared to have been crying. "Gin, George just flooed and said there was some development at St. Mungo's" the young girl spoke slowly as if afraid of Ginny's reaction. Yet, she had a smile on her face as if delivering good news, which in a way, Hermione guessed, she was.

Ginny quickly pulled away from Hermione to look at the blonde that stood before them.

"Madeline, what do you mean by development?"

"George said he might be waking up," said the blonde who then hugged Ginny. The redhead seemed extremely happy by the news, which caused Hermione to wonder who exactly, was waking up.

Everything happened rather rapidly. One minute Hermione was being hugged by her long time friend and the next she was being hurried inside the cottage alongside the blonde woman named Madeline. The inside of the cottage was like a set from a movie. Everything matched, but not sickly so. It was decorated in browns and dark tones. The brunette didn't have time to look around for long as her redheaded friend spoke up.

"I don't know how you found out, I'm guessing it was probably dad," Hermione nodded. "Yes, well, I don't have time to explain what is going on as we have to go to St. Mungo's. You are welcome to tag along." Ginny then walked towards the fireplace in the living space, scooped up some powder and yelled, "St. Mungo's."

Hermione had the sudden urge to follow her and as she glanced at the other woman beside her and received a nod, she did the same as her friend had done. She had to figure out what the hell was going on. She also wanted to see Harry; maybe he was the man that had woken up.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She was standing right in front of Draco Malfoy, who sat, bruised, in a hospital bed. Ginny had gone to sit next to him and looked, though Hermione hoped she was mistaken, worried.

"What the hell were you thinking Malfoy?" shouted Ginny.

"What exactly have I done this time, red?" asked the blond, with the official, Hogwarts, Malfoy smirk Hermione knew all too well. The young witch bit her tongue so not to answer his question. After all, he was a bully back in their school days. Another reason for her confusion on Ginny's concerned expression.

"You foolishly went to that horrid place despite Harry's and the Minister's warnings. You could have been killed!" the redheaded woman retorted wrathfully, standing up and walking towards the only window in the room. Without looking back at the remaining individuals in the room, she added, "I was so worried about you. I've told a million times not to get involved in Harry's investigations. You're not an auror; it's not your job. Why couldn't you just let it be?"

The blond looked guilty, something Hermione had never truly seen before. He looked away from Ginny and looked to the door, which happened to be beside Hermione. Malfoy had a complete and utter shock look on his face. The brunette could tell he didn't know what to make of her appearance. To be honest, Hermione didn't know what to make of Ginny's anxiety towards Malfoy's well being.

"Granger?" Malfoy said at last, confused about the whole thing. He hadn't seen the young witch since the Battle of Hogwarts. He had definitely not seen her like this before. Her hair wasn't frizzy as it had been in school. She, of course, looked older. Her skin was flawless. Malfoy could have even described Hermione as beautiful; if he wasn't worried about the fact that Ginny had looked like she had been crying all day. Although, he knew for certain the redhead loved him, Malfoy was confident it was because of the fact his best mate wasn't in the room, yelling at him to stay in his damned clinic instead of meddling in auror business. The wizard turned from his former schoolmate to the girl he considered a younger sister. This had happened before. Draco would always pry in Harry's auror deals when it involved Deatheaters. He had found that helping Harry arrest the remaining of wizards that believe in the Dark Lord's dark plan was a way to redeem himself. He had gotten injured before. Ginny had cried. Nevertheless, she had never showed that much emotion, which scared the young wizard. Ginny was not one to break down like this, unless her husband was involved.

Draco turned to the girl by the door that he hadn't seen in seven years. She looked perplexed to see him, as he was to see her. Draco also guessed she didn't know what was going on and was about to ask for things to be explained for his sake and Hermione's when the door burst open and a tall, pregnant woman with black hair burst through the door, crying. The act startled both Draco and Hermione, while Ginny kept staring out the window as if she hadn't noticed the intrusion of the woman, which, Draco guessed, was probably the case.

"O-oh… Draakke! I… haavee… been… woorrieed ssickk… abooutt you!" said the new comer in between sobs.

Draco took a deep breath and said, "it's okay Pansy, dear, I'm alright."


	2. Chapter 2

_**DISCLAIMER:**__ The following story is based on situations and characters from the Harry Potter books which are created and owned by J. K. Rowling, and various other publishers, including, but not limited to Warner Bros., Inc., Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, and Raincoat Books. No use other than entertainment is intended and no financial gain is being made. No trademark or copyright infringement is intended._

Chapter 2

Pansy Parkinson had indeed changed. She was no longer the pug faced teenager Hermione remembered and although she was crying, she still looked beautiful. The black-haired girl was wearing stylish forest green robes, though one could still tell she was pregnant. Hermione looked down at her outfit, she was still wearing her traveling clothes, which meant Muggle clothing. All she wore was simple washed-blue jeans, a beige T-shirt with a ketchup stain at the bottom, a tan jacket, and white trainers. She wasn't wearing any make-up; she didn't see the need for it since she had spent hours in an airport and then airplane. Looking down at herself, Hermione thanked Merlin there were no mirrors in the room. She did not want to look at whatever state her hair was in at the moment

The pregnant woman hurried to Draco's side. Still crying, she spoke up, "Hhoww caaan yyoouu ssaay thaatt? Yyouu aaree llyyinng iinn aa hhosppitaal bbed!"

Before Malfoy could say anything, another woman hurried in the hospital room. This woman Hermione recognized instantly, it was Narcissa Malfoy. Wearing beautiful magenta robes, the older witch walked over to Pansy after pausing for a second to look at her son. When she reached the weeping witch, Narcissa put an arm around her while looking at her son. "I'm sorry, Draco. I told her you were in a meeting but somehow she knew I was lying and came directly here."

"Somehow?" Pansy asked, she had stopped crying and was now staring intently at Narcissa. "Maybe I knew because this always happens. He never cancels dinner for a meeting. He couldn't care less about a mere meeting. The only thing that could keep him from attending dinner would be a hospital stay. Especially if he had been interfering in auror business again. Your son is quite predictable, Mrs. Malfoy, it does not take Hermione Granger to know what he is doing."

With the mention of her name, Draco looked at the witch by the door and smiled. Hermione was flabbergasted. Draco Malfoy didn't smile. She had known him for years and all he did was smirk or sneer. Never had she seen a genuine smile from Draco Malfoy.

"Pansy, please. I don't need to hear your high-pitched voice right now. Neither does Ginny or-" Malfoy was cut off by Pansy who looked about to slap the wizard. Never mind the bruises on his face.

"Why would I care about Ginny's needs?" Pansy started while turning to Ginny, who had begun listening to the conversation when Mrs. Malfoy came in, "she didn't care enough about my needs to inform me you were in the hospital, yet again. She lies to me constantly about you and your whereabouts. She even dares to look heartbroken by your current situation, when everybody knows I should be the one crying while she looks after Potter."

Draco, who had a tired smile on his face while Pansy was speaking, tensed up. Even Hermione knew that Harry wasn't here, despite not knowing what the hell was going on. Ginny turned to the window while Draco gently rested his fingers on Pansy's cheek and forced her to look at him. "I requested that Ginny come to my hospital room before she was to tell you what happened. She tried to convince me otherwise, she wanted to tell you what was going on, but I wouldn't let her. I wanted to speak to her before she spoke to you." Draco the placed a kiss on Pansy cheek and said, "I'm sorry, Pans."

Pansy looked like she was going to cry again. She turned to Ginny and began, "oh Gin, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to be so cruel. You should be heartbroken, you care about him and it hurts to see him this way. I'm so sorry, Ginny!" And with that the witch threw herself in Ginny's arms and started to cry.

Hermione didn't miss the look of relief that passed through Ginny's face and the fact that the redhead mouthed 'thank you' to Malfoy before closing her eyes and crying with Pansy.

Narcissa Malfoy stood up from her son's bed and kissed him on the cheek, "I'm glad you are out of harm's way, Draco. I shall return when you are alone to speak about," she glanced at the two crying woman and back, "that other matter. Stay well." Narcissa turned away with every intention to leave when she spotted Hermione. She seemed confused by the sight, but quickly recovered and offered Hermione a caring smile, "Ms. Granger, how nice of you to finally join us." Ginny sobbed loudly while Pansy whispered apologies to the other witch. Narcissa then added, "I regret the situation, however. Have you been told of the events surrounding your hospital visit?" Hermione shook her head no. "Well, then, why don't you come with me? I would hate for you to stay here not knowing what is going on around you."

Reluctantly Hermione nodded her head. As much as she didn't want to leave Ginny with the two Slytherins, she also wanted to know what the hell was going on. Hermione figured going with Narcissa would be the easiest way to find out the truth.

The older witch had led her to a waiting room where the dirty blonde woman from Ginny's house, sat. Without saying anything else Narcissa disapparated away. Hermione wasn't sure what to do as she thought Narcissa would be the one doing the explaining.

The woman in front of her smiled, "I'm Madeline Chase, it's a pleasure to meet you, Hermione."

Hermione was about to ask how the woman knew her name, but realized she was in England. In Australia, it was rare for someone to randomly recognize her for her involvement in the war. In Perth, she was merely Hermione Granger, employee of the Australian Ministry of Magic. In England, she was Hermione Granger, the brains of the Golden Trio and war heroine. Needless to say, she wasn't used to it.

"I'm sure you are wondering why you are here," Hermione nodded. "Before we start, would you mind letting me know how you knew Ginny would be at the cottage?"

Hermione regarded the blonde for a moment. She was tall with straight golden hair falling down her back. She was rather tan which made Hermione wonder if it were fake. From what the witch could tell, English weather hadn't changed that much. Madeline was also wearing a slimming black dress that reached her knees. For that second time that day, Hermione felt insecure about her appearance.

"I received a letter from Arthur Weasley a few days ago, it had the address on it, I assumed it was Harry's home," Hermione replied dryly.

Madeline winced at hearing Harry's name spoken so nonchalantly, but returned to normal a moment after. "The Potters continue to live in Grimmauld Place," the witch said while motioning for Hermione to take a sit and then took a sit herself. "The cottage is Draco's. It is a place of shelter. If anything bad ever happens, we take housing there. It has charms all around it, protecting it from the outside world. If anyone from the outside were to see it, it would be a field of nothingness."

Hermione took everything in and was about to let Madeline keep going when something started bothering her. If the cottage was protected by charms that made it invisible, then how come see had seen it? How come she approached it? The witch voiced her doubts aloud to Madeline who then smiled. Hermione was certainly living up to her reputation.

"The cottage recognizes your magic," Hermione began to protest, but was cut off by Madeline. "Don't ask me how, I don't know. Harry and Draco were the ones that put up the charms and defenses. Certain people can see it without having to perform the needed spells. Harry, Draco, Ginny, myself, Pansy since her first pregnancy, Blaise, The Weasley family, and you, of course. Harry insisted you were allowed in, he always thought you would come back. He also imagined you would come when something was wrong here, he was just taking precautions."

Hermione could tell Madeline and Harry were friends. Everything time the witch said his name, it came out as if it was painful to say it. Hermione feared she would be doing the same in a few minutes.

"I'm sorry for being impolite, but do you mind telling me what the bloody hell is going on?" Hermione demanded impatiently. She could care less about the cottage and its fortifications; she wanted to know what happened to her best friend.

"Harry was working on a case, I don't know much about it. Draco was helping him. Three days ago, I got a message from Harry telling me to inform Draco there had been some developments. He requested Draco to come to his office. The next thing we hear is that Draco was sent to St. Mungo's and was unconscious." Madeline had tears in her eyes that were falling on her face; the witch didn't seem to care.

Without hesitating Hermione asked what she had been wondering since she had read the letter from Arthur, "…And Harry?"

Madeline didn't look at Hermione when she said the words, perhaps because she was crying and didn't want Hermione to see it. Perhaps because it was too painful. Either way, Hermione was glad, because the words struck her as if she had been slapped in the face. Tears fell from her eyes immediately and she hoped it was all just an abysmal prank or a callous nightmare.

"When the aurors got there, he was being taken away by loose Deatheaters."

_Thank you for reading! It means a lot to me. Reviews are appreciated._

_Also, thanks to susan sebest for her kind words! _

_~Maria_


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